Sometimes having a chimney with deferred maintenance can cause some unexpected safety hazards. Realistically, the typical homeowner does not spend very much time, if any, on their roof looking for potential problems. Let take a look at the chimney below:
Initial look.. The chimney is missing a flame arrestor, has some staining, and is in close proximity to a very large set of skylights. Now let’s take a closer look:
This is not good! Large sections of stone are coming off of the chimney and falling onto the roof! The chimney is so close to the skylights that a stone could potentially fall through and cause severe harm to anyone inside. Another thing to factor in, the stones are damaging the roof below and could potentially cause water leaks.
A combination of water intrusion and deferred maintenance caused this nightmare but it is something that could have easily been taken care of with regular inspections and maintenance.
Not pictured but inside the home the fireplace was also missing a hearth extension and allowing embers to fall onto the wood floor below, not a safe scenario.
If you have recently purchased a home or it has been a few years since inspecting your fireplace, please have it inspected by a CSIA certified professional.
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